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Disability and defining who I am

Weirdly it was King Fu Panda that introduced me to the idea of establishing who I am. With that said you don’t have to sit alone in a cave for 10 years asking “who am I”, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to really know what makes you do the things you do.

All of us are a complex mix of everything that has ever happened to us, but some points are the moments that really define our personality. It is not hard for me to outline one of the most important moments in my life, when my daughter began to show signs of disability.

My daughters disability now defines every little detail about my life. Not because I let it, but because it affects every minute of my family existence. We have to consider the impact and the effect in every decision we make and everything we do.
This is not unique but I’m in a strange position because I am not the one fully influenced by it. Weirdly Lucie is probably the least affected by her issues, she doesn’t care in the slightest and carries on doing her best to get past all her issues with a big smile on her face.

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She also has a huge effect on my positive personality. When you have sat awake all night holding someone just so they feel safe, all other issues just don’t even make a mark. When you have had to fight just for your daughter to receive treatment so she can stand up, that passive aggressive status on Facebook really doesn’t matter.
This doesn’t make me a better person than you, it simply defines who I am. Disability defines my whole world and although times are hard our family is happier and stronger for it.